The First Step
by QueenElizabeth3andCourtJester
Summary: Nico and Leo are so much alike, but Leo likes to deny his pain. Maybe Nico can get him to talk about his pain, and maybe they'll both feel a little less alone. *Spoilers for House of Hades*


**A/N: Do you not love how all my one-shots star Nico? This one is Nico and Leo because they are both perf and tortured and just adorable.**

**My next one will be Frank and Nico playing Mythomagic and getting in a fight while Hazel tries to stop them.**

**Enjoy, Demigods, Mortals and gods.**

**Disclaimer: Percy Jackson and the Olympians and The Heroes of Olympus do not in any way belong to me. They belong to the evil Uncle Rick.**

* * *

Leo sat in the stables once again tinkering with the Athena Parthenos. It had to do something!

He could see in the corner of his eye that Hazel's brother was lingering in the shadows in the corner, staring at him.

He decided not to say anything, continuing to play around with the statue. If he didn't have to talk to di Angelo, he wouldn't. It was like the kid could see into his soul.

"You're like me," Nico said suddenly, looking Leo up and down.

Leo dropped his tool. _What_? "Excuse me?" Nico stepped out from the shadows.

"You and I, we're very much alike," Nico said, his lips barely even moving as he spoke and his long bangs fell into his face. Leo shook his head. He was nothing, _nothing_, like di Angelo.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Leo spread a fake grin across his face. "See! I'm actually capable of smiling!"

"It's fake," Nico dismissed with a wave of his hand, "You joke to hide the pain, whereas I don't even bother to hide it. We're more alike than you think." Leo stood from his crouched position on the floor, a scowl crossing his face.

"There's no pain!" he insisted. "And my smile isn't fake! I have nothing to hide!" He tried to put his smile back in place, but it probably looked more like a wince.

Nico started circling Leo like a predator stalking his prey. He suddenly stopped and looked Leo in the eye. "My sister died when I was younger, and from then on, I've had no one, I'm guessing by the look you have, you're remembering the death of a close family member?"

Leo opened his mouth to answer, but stopped himself. He honestly didn't trust this guy one bit, how could he tell him about something he'd never told anyone?

"No, di Angelo, I'm absolutely fine. I'm sorry about your sister, but I haven't lost anyone," Leo said, the lies stinging as they fell off his tongue. He managed to keep a large smile in tact though.

A ghost of a smile swept over Nico's face. "The first step of solving a problem is admitting you have it," he said ruefully.

Leo snorted. "I have no problem, now would you kindly leave me to my work?"

"Don't you now?" Nico said, looking him over again. Leo's resistance was starting to waver.

"I don't," he said as firmly as he could, but he was beginning to wonder how different him and Nico actually were.

"Listen, Repair Boy, if there's one thing I've learned, it's that if you have the opportunity to talk to someone who understands, you don't pass it up. And trust me, the opportunity doesn't come often." Nico paused for a moment. "In fact, it never does."

Leo was quiet a moment before whispering, "My mother... I killed her. It's all my fault." Tears started to stream down his face.

Nico gave a slight tight lipped smile. "That wasn't so hard was it?" His face softened slightly. "I lost my only family. She abandoned me, and then she died." Nico turned away before Leo could see his own pained expression.

"And here I am, with seven— well now six really— demigods and a Saytr, and I'm still—"

"Alone," Nico finished. "I know the feeling. A whole camp, and no one understood."

"Nemesis even told me that I'm the Seventh Wheel. I try to hide the pain but—"

"It never really goes away," Nico finished for him again. "I know."

And so, the two proceeded to vent to each other, learning just how similar they actually were.

And there they were, hugging tightly, crying on each other's shoulder when the stable doors burst open.

"Leo?" Piper called. "We're having dinner now! Are you down here?" Leo pulled away from Nico and wiped the tears from his face.

"Thanks, di Angelo, I actually feel a little better now." Nico's lips quirked up into a half smile.

"Don't mention it, Dragon Fire," he said, wiping away his tears.

Leo sent him a wink and a cheeky grin, before swaggering off to Piper yelling, "Over here, Beauty Queen! Me and Athena over here were just telling of our love for each other!" Nico could hear Piper giggle and say something in response. For once, Nico's face erupted into a fully fledged smile.

* * *

***The Next Day***

Nico sat in the corner of the stables, reading his favorite book of all time, City of Bones. He was feeling rather sad that day, and some good old Shadowhunter drama always made him feel better.

"A book?" Leo said, sitting down next to him.

"Yes, a book. You light yourself on fire, I read young adult romance novels," Nico said, not looking up from his book.

"I don't read much. Mostly because I end up setting the book on fire, but—" Leo would have continued, but he was cut off by a loud yell of, "DON'T TOUCH MY BOOKS YOU BOOK MURDERER!"

Leo looked at Nico and Nico looked at Leo. There was a loud silence as they stared at each other.

The suddenly, Nico flinched away as a bra was flung into his face.

"What the Hades?" he exclaimed, throwing the woman's undergarment away from him.

"Just trying to break the tension," Leo explained, putting his hands up in the air as if to say, 'I surrender.'

Nico nodded stiffly, then said, "I just wanted to... thank you. I've been feeling, I don't know, uh..." Nico trailed off, looking for the right word.

"I get it," Leo assured him. Leo pulled the younger boy into a friendly— and manly— hug.

Nico wriggled out of his grasp. "I don't like being touched, Zuko. So if you could kindly move your hands away from my body, it would be much appreciated." Leo hid his laughter at the Son of Hades unwillingness to touch anyone. "It's not funny, Fire Breathing Machine!"

Leo's smile widened. "Two nicknames before I even spoke! Nice going, Death Boy!" Nico rolled his eyes.

"Why does _everyone_ call me death boy?" he asked no one, shaking his head in slight annoyance.

"It's better than Frowny Boy," Leo pointed out. Nico shrugged.

"Touché." He stood, his book tucked under one arm. "I must be going now, Hammer Boy. If you ever need me, just look up." And with a small smile gracing his lips, Nico left Leo alone in the stables.

* * *

***The Next Morning***

The next morning, when Leo woke up, sitting on his desk was a rather large pile of five books.

On top of the pile was a small not that read:

_Norbert,_

_These are my favorite books in the history of young adult romance novels. I'd like you to read them. Maybe you'll even ship Malec and we can fanboy together (wink wink, nudge nudge)._

_You burn these, you die._

_And trust me, I can make it happen very easily._

_- Frowny Boy_

Leo smiled widely, and picked up the first book. Maybe Leo didn't read much, but how could he deny Nico this? And besides, he wanted to be the first aboard to find out what the Hades Malec is.

And so he sat down and read for at least an hour before someone barged in and startled, Leo set the book on fire.

* * *

**A/N: That actually wasn't half as bad as I thought it'd be. It actually had more humor in it than I thought it would.**

**If you have read Pretty Good Company already, you will see wear the bra reference came from. My one shots are linked!**

**I need to do one with Nico awkwardly stumbling around Percy...**

**Next up is Frank and Nico: The Battle of the Figurines!**

**Joking joking... But it will be about Frank and Nico.**

**I hope you enjoyed my little one shot. Reviews are always appreciated. If you could take a moment to give me one, that'd be great :)**

**~ Queen Elizabeth III**


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